May 30, 2007
 You Are What You Order
Sure, nutritionists say it's healthier to cook meals at home. Obscene portion sizes aside, restaurant meals are laden with calories, saturated fat, MSG, sodium and other dietary evils. But this is New York, where kitchens are outrageously undersized and groceries are outrageously overpriced. Takeout food, on the other hand, is abundant and much more compatible with fourth-floor walkups – not to mention busy-parent stress levels.
Maybe they do understand. Two registered dieticians have compiled a healthy guide to the city's takeout scene. With "Mindful Menus: The Guilt-Free Guide to Ordering In" in hand, one never has to ponder whether hot-and-sour soup is fattening (it's not!) or how many calories could possibly fit in that order of chicken parm (1,012).
Mindful Menus lists the smartest 10 to 15 menu suggestions for some of the most popular takeout and delivery destinations in the city. It also reveals exactly which items are the most offensive at each establishment. For example: the quesadilla from BurittoVille (38 grams of fat); go for the Vegged Out in Santa Fe instead.
Upper East and West Side guides are currently available, with Chelsea and Downtown versions coming soon. Each book includes restaurant phone numbers, so it can serve as a portable replacement for that unruly pile of menus in the kitchen drawer. Now, on those nights when slicing, dicing and steaming just aren't an option, at least you'll smugly swap fried spring rolls for steamed shrimp shumai.
As for the 25-calorie fortune cookie? Yes, please.
Available online at foodtrainers.net.
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